Therapy can release old wounds, but can it bring you fully alive? Psychiatrist-turned-retreat-leader Dieter Middleston Scheid and his partner Baccha Schwartz describe their immersive silent retreats in Italy, where open sensory attention, slow-motion movement, and ten days without speech help participants rediscover a wordless inner home.
The body knows more than the mind admits. Dr. Eugene Gendlin, developer of Focusing, walks Armand through how tuning into a subtle physical sensation in the trunk unlocks deeper self-knowledge, and how the same quality of non-judgmental attention transforms the way we listen to the people we love.
Performance anxiety can freeze you at a job interview, a school meeting, or even walking into a room alone. Natalie H. Rogers, licensed clinical social worker and author of “The New Talk Power,” shares her step-by-step body-based approach: correcting your breathing, developing inner physical awareness, and building concentration so fear stops blocking speech.
Talented people often sabotage themselves not from fear of failure but fear of success. Sports psychologist Dr. Don Green, a former Green Beret and author of ‘Fight Your Fear and Win,’ shares seven skills for performing under pressure, including centering, a technique that lets anyone control mental energy in under ten seconds.
Overprotective parents are raising psychologically fragile children, and college counseling centers are overwhelmed with the fallout. Hara Estroff Marano, Author and Psychology Today Editor, joins Armand DiMele to argue that well-meaning parents who bubble-wrap their kids’ lives are producing adults who can’t tolerate failure, rejection, or uncertainty.
Late-life depression may double the risk of vascular dementia and raise Alzheimer’s risk by 65%. Armand DiMele surveys the research on cortisol, the hippocampus, and the toxic brain effects of chronic depression, then argues for a radical reframe: Alzheimer’s may be harder on caregivers than on those living it. Co-host Giullian Gioiello joins the conversation.
Constant pressure to change a partner is a guaranteed formula for resentment, and possibly hatred. Armand DiMele unpacks why nagging backfires whether or not it works, and Dr. Doe Lang joins to discuss charisma, breathing, and the inner resources that give people real influence over their lives.
Childhood patterns harden into the repetitive emotional games that wreck adult relationships. Dr. Claude Steiner, a pioneering transactional analysis theorist, walks Armand through classic games like Uproar, Why Don’t You Yes But, and Now I’ve Got You, then explains how the drama triangle keeps people cycling through persecutor, rescuer, and victim roles.
Self-deception is not just a psychological problem but a physical one. Deborah King, author of “Truth Heals,” shares how the lies we tell ourselves about relationships, work, and childhood wounds drain our energy and manifest as illness, drawing on her own journey through an eating disorder, bipolar disorder, cancer, and addiction. Armand DiMele and Dr. Jeremy Spiegel, Psychiatrist, join the conversation.
Don Riso and Russ Hudson join Armand DiMele to break down the three assertive Enneagram types: the blunt, life-force-driven Challenger, the endlessly striving Achiever, and the expansive Enthusiast. The conversation explores why assertive energy triggers defensive reactions, how it roots in fear and emptiness, and how it can be channeled into genuine leadership.
